Okay, the back of this book says it includes "Instructor grading rubrics". All I'm seeing are sample answers, with no guidance for grading. In fact, nowhere in the book does there seem to be any mention of grading or assigning credits for high school. It also says is includes "test forms". It appears what they mean is the "section 3" questions, though by "forms" I was expecting actual forms. Spent forever searching for test forms that aren't there. The book also makes no mention of there being a student section in the back of the book, which includes the questions without the answers. I had been reading the questions aloud because I didn't know this section was there. I only found it in my hunt for test forms. I like this book, but I have to say, I'm a little annoyed. So, how do you go about choosing what to grade? Are all sections to be graded? Just section 3? anything they don't do open-book?

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check them out!

My soon-to-be 9th grader needs Science for next year. We've used a few different science programs, with varied success, but none of which extend into high school. She is 15 so we're working about a year behind age-peers. She is very bright, but unmotivated and completely not interested in science, so finding something is difficult. We used NOEO science for several levels. She liked the variety of books, until the upper levels when it was primarily the Usborne Science Encyclopedia, which she found very boring. She also was extremely lazy about the regurgitation of knowledge and summarizing, which became a daily dread. We used R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey this year (Bio 2) and we also used it I think in first and second grades. She likes that it is self-contained lessons rather than a reading list, and she likes that there isn't much writing involved. It's hard to pinpoint what she doesn't like about it. She says it includes too much "simple stuff" rather than getting right to the heart of the lesson. She really wants to get in, get it done, and get out, which makes it difficult to find information that will stick. She does NOT jive well with the WTM method of learning science. She is a good writer, but hates to be made to write, especially research-type papers. She despises writing notes and finds the idea of having a paper hanging over her head stressful and the learning just doesn't happen. She much prefers written-out lessons like R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey and tests to show knowledge or, better yet, videos lessons. She is an artist and very visually-oriented. She is brilliant at math (though she doesn't enjoy it) and is great at processing things logically, but I'm not sure how that affects what science curriculum is right. She did Bio in 8th (due to NOEO having a three-year cycle instead of four) and doesn't want to start her last cycle with Bio. Of the four years that's going to be the most interesting for her and we want to save it for 12th when she's older and can get the most out of it. The other sciences she can take or leave and really doesn't care one bit about any of them. I'm not much help as it's an area I don't know much of anything about myself and neither does my husband, who is a math and history guy. Incidentally, we're having the same issues picking history, and for the same reasons. She is NOT on board with the WTM methods. Hates researching, notes, papers, etc. We're doing as little of History Odyssey modern 2 as we can get away with, and watching a lot of history documentaries, which she really enjoys. She also has long talks with my husband which she gets a lot out of and enjoys a lot (he knows EVERYTHING history). ANY guidance you can give me would be greatly appreciated. We're ending 8th grade now and I'm running out of time to buy next year's books, thanks!

Lightning Literature does look great! She reads a lot, but doesn't have as many "clasics" under her belt as I would like. Literature is such a wide field, I'm just feeling overwhelmed =) I will search for a book list here as well, thanks!

I am feeling out our 8th grade year. So far we have not done much, if anything, in the literature department. My daughter is a great reader, and reads all the time on her own, I just haven't directed her reading or tied it to school in any way. This year I'd really like to get her reading books that correspond to our history studies (modern era). Do I go with structured literature guides, or just pick from lists of classics that she should be reading? In the laguage department we have already gone through Hake Grammar 8, we will be doing the final Spelling Workout book, and we will be doing the second half of WWS 2 and I'm thinking of using Cover Story next year as well, (other subjects are math, science, Latin, and logic) so I don't want it to be overkill. Maybe there is kind of a "light" literature program that will guide her reading and give her a little more in-depth look at what she's read? Like I said, we've never "done" literature as a subject, so it's all pretty new to me. Thanks!

We took extra long to get through 5th and 6th grades, so I've got a 12 year old (13 in June) who is going into 7th grade almost a full year past her age peers. Not due to difficulty, just took too much time off. Fine with me, actually, as the extra maturity can't hurt. This year we are a little overwhelmed by the number of subjects, so I've tried to simplify a little. Here is my plan as it stands: Logic This year we did Critical Thinking book 1, and Building Thinking Skills Book 3 Verbal (both Critical Thinking Co.). She enjoyed the informal logic of Critical Thinking book 1, and I want to use The Art of Argument next year. We like CAP's Latin for Children already. I know WTM recommends formal logic in 7th grade, so I was thinking of ALSO doing MP's Traditional Logic. - Traditional Logic, based on their web site and introductory video, looks like it might be a little dry. I promised to try to make school more "fun and interesting". Will this be difficult to get through? I do like that it includes dvd lessons for my visual learner. - Do you forsee any problems doing a formal and an informal logic book in the same year? They seem sufficiently different to me that it won't cause logic overload, but I haven't seen either program in person. Math We are sticking with Saxon (have used it since kindy) and will be using 8/7. I don't anticipate problems, as she's super good at math, but would love to hear about any way I might help it fit the "fun and interesting" bill. She's very good at it and learns it easily enough, but does not "enjoy" it. Grammar Sticking with Saxon/Hake grammar, though we skipped the 6th grade book so we will be using 8th grade next year. Same problem as Saxon math, really. She's good at it, but it's not exactly fun or rewarding. And advice on ways I can make it more interesting without switching programs? Spelling Finishing up Spelling Workout (level G). No issues here. Science Using NOEO Physics level 2. No issues here either, other than the price! Whew! Writing I suppose we will use WWS level 2, as we used WWS this year. She's a bit of a reluctant writer when it comes to non-imaginative stuff, so it's quite a challenge, but I like how thorough it is. Latin We took over a year off of Latin, I'm sorry to say. She kind of lost interest in it after completing LFC B, but I'm hoping to pick it up again by using CAP's Latin Alive. Hopefully she'll be able to get back into it. She does like the idea of passing the National Latin Exam. History Doing Early Modern, using SOTW, Kingfisher, Usborne, and a lot of internet. Going to try to structure it so we spend a good amount of time on early US history with not quite as much focus this year on world history. I know there are TONS of great history resources out there, and history can be a lot more interesting than I make it, as it's a subject I know next to nothing about. I would love to hear about any must-have additions you know about for middle schoolers (preferably free or low cost, as the bill for books this year is already super high). So much of what I see that is "fun" is for very young kids. My daughter definitely prefers learning visually rather than through reading, and has recently aquired a taste for documentaries, so any (appropriate) things in that area you can recommend would be appreciated! (I maybe should note that we are pretty much secular and not looking for anything biblically based or from an overtly Christian view) Extra I asked if there is anything special that she'd like to add next year. She really wants a future in veterinary medicine (she has not wavered in this since she was 5) and she'd love something in that area, but I'm not sure what to give her. So many things I've looked at about animals seem to be either for little kids or high school age. She'd especialy love some kind of middle school program that covers genetics, large animal (farm or exotic) care/husbandry, or pet veterinary care. Totally clueless here, so any advice would be awesome. That's it. I tried to cut back to only the most important subjects this year, cutting out state history and extracurricular online classes which always get pushed to the back burner. I estimate that what I have will give us a roughly 6 hour average school day, which sounds about right. I appreciate any advice you guys can give me. Thanks for reading!

Oh! I tink I found it. It's an objective complement. #15 here: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/diagrams2/one_pager1.htm correct?

I'm petty sure I have this right, but am unable to verify. I tried consulting the internet and our grammar book, but I can't find an example that helps. He put an adjective in his sentence to make it livelier. I was able to figure everything out except for where exactly "livelier" goes. I have "to make" as an infinitive being used as an adverb coming down from the word "put". I have "it" as a direct object of "to make", verified here: http://www.you tube.com/watch?v=F5GMugSkmBI (i put a space in there so the video wouldn't embed) I think "livelier" is an adjective I would put under "it", but I haven't found any place that verifies this. A simpler sentence using the same kind of words would be He painted it red. So I would diagram it He (long line) painted (short line) it (on slanty line) red Is that right? It looks okay to me.

We LOVE Saxon. It tackles complicated math in baby steps, so that by the time the student comes to the actual difficult math, he knows all the steps already and it's easy. I also like that it's constantly reviewing previous skills, so nothing is forgotten. We've used it since K (now in 7/6). Through grade 3 was a little mind-numbing for me (not my daughter) due to the scripted format and the repetative daily charting rituals. If I did it again, I'd probably skip a lot of that stuff and focus on the math, but the middle grades have been wonderful. I asked my daughter to tell me what she thinks of it (she's actually working on math as we speak) and she said: "It describes things in pieces so that it's easier to learn. It's not all crammed into my mind at once. It's a good learning system." So saxon isn't all bad. It really depends on who you ask. It works extremely well for us.

Tossing NOEO into the ring. I believe the pubisher is technically Chrstian, but it's only mentioned in the introduction to parents as an explanation of where the name NOEO comes from. The program is essentially a reading/assignment list that accompanies a collection of completely secular books, so there is no religious content. Not sure how it would work with multiple age groups, so this suggestion is more for anyone else reading who might be looking for good secular science programs.

Try this, it fixed it for me when I had the same problem. Go to Format>Page and click the Sheet tab. Under Scale, make sure the drop-box is set to "Fit print range(s) to width/height" and not "reduce/enlarge".

Yeah, sorry about that! I reuploaded it and forgot to set it to public. Should be fixed now. ^^

Hmmm...when I click on it it says "No preview available", presumably because the Open Office format isn't compatable with their spreadhseet software, and under that it says "download" on a small button. What are you getting? I think I'm actually going to have them spriral bound this year, but I'm printing them myself. It'll be a nice change from doing them loose and putting them in a binder if nothing else. I've tried doing the B and C sheets on regular lined paper, and it was just too messy with all the lines, and my daughter isn't anywhere neat enough to do it on blank white paper, so I do like using the sheets.

After two years I got tired of using the same B and C sheets for Saxon. They don't copy well, and even with heavy photoshopping, they still look terrible. So I started from scratch and made new sheets to use this year and I thought I'd share. The C sheet is essentially the same, just cleaned up. The B sheet I reorganized quite a bit. I simplified it, since we never use all those check boxes that were taking up space. They should print fine. The C Back sheet is meant to print on the back of the C Front sheet, so the margin for hole punches is on the opposite side. This is in Open Office Calc (ods.) format. I have no idea how or if they work in Microsoft or another Office suite, but hopefully somebody else will like them. I've never shared anything using Google Drive, but this ought to work with no sign-in required. https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-x9_djuZbD4cnFESzVGY3Rsbjg Edit: Fixed up the margins a bit and added an E sheet for tests. I just printed out 120 of B and C, and 23 of E for all the sheets I'll need for the year. Hopefully Staples can bind them for me.

EKS above went from 5 to 8, so I'm not worried anymore about skipping from 5 to 7. It's my guess that you'd be able to go from 6 to 8 without any problems. It seems to me that each book is a retread of the previous book, with a few new things throw in, and more complex sentences to work with.

Hi there! I know this thread is a little old, but your post looked so fmailiar, I thought for a minute i might have written it! My daughter is also 11 years old, loves animals of all kinds (we live on a small farm), loves the Hunger Games, and we also live in NH. Though, she's an only child and is really wanting to meet other homeschool kids in NH. If your daughters are still looking for a friend or penpal, she's absolutely interested!

Wow, so much hate for Saxon math! It seems to be a very "love it or hate it" program. You're either in the Saxon cult, or your not. It works very well for us. However, the K-3 books are VERY scripted. As a first time homeschooler, though, I needed that. If I had another to teach, I would probably do K-3 on my own, now that I am more confident in knowing what I'd need to cover. It got to the point where I was going to scream if I had to chart the weather ONE MORE TIME. Some things I did NOT like at all: History Odyssey. I think I used this in second or third grade. It was a mess, and so not worth the money. R.E.A.L. Science. Used in first grade. Awful illstrations. I swear I remember them depicting sea-stars with googly eyes. Writing Strands. Maybe she just wasn't old enough, but it was just boring step-by-step instructions, and no real learning seemed to happen. Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready Spend an hour creating an elaborate craft out of cardboard boxes, tubes, and plastic cups so that I can do a 5 minute activity with my 6-month old? No, thanks! This book really felt like I was programming a machine. "Develop this skill at 12 months, 4 days, and 13 hours old or your child will spend the next 50 years drooling in a corner because you didn't do enough" was the impression that book left me with.

I don't have any experience with other spelling programs, as this is all I've used, but Spelling Workout seems to be what you're describing, as far as being workbook based, with short lessons, and easy to implement. The TM isn't totally necessary, but I'd get it at least once before deciding if you want to use it or not.

Not exactly the same thing, but we found that our daughter does the review set much faster when one of us works along with her using a chalkboard as kind of a race. We call it "Speed math" and whoever gets the problem right first gets a point. You could try working the problems out together on a board (or paper) and having him do more of the writing himself as he's able to. I had the same trouble with my daughter and her writing assignments a few years ago. Her hands weren't ready for long writing sessions, but she was good at the work itself. So we did a lot of work where she dictated what she wanted to say, or she used a computer.

Hmmm...she says now that she'd rather just go on to the 7th grade book. Maybe I'll do that. It's a shame though, as I'm sure I won't be able to sell this book for what I bought it for.

I have always used Saxon math, so I'm used to each book reviewing the previous book for a good long while, but i was really surprised to see that my new Saxon.Hake Grammar 6 seems to contain very little in the way of new concepts. Out of 107 lessons, they wait til lesson 77 to get around to the question mark, lesson 97 for the apostrophe...this is all stuff covered in the Grade 5 book. I'm really wondering if it might be better to skip this book and go right to Grade 7. I love this grammar program, but I have to say I'm very disappointed that this entire book feels like a repeat of the last one. Another example...lesson 102 in Grade 7 is interjections and how to diagram them. She just did that in lesson 112 at the end of the Grade 6 book! So there's a full year before getting back to that concept. I'm probably just going to go with it, since I don't want to give her material written for much older students, but I did schedule it so we're skipping the first 36 lessons, enabling us to have Grammar 3 days per week instead of 4, which she'll appreciate. Anyone else find this to be the case with Saxon Hake Grammar? Has anyone skipped the Grade 6 book entirely? It certainly feels like you'd be able to from here.

I figured out my problem, and I can't find how to delete this post!

I second The Hunger Games. My 11 year old just finished reading it. She got so into it that she read it within 24 hours, and then we watched the movie together. You should pre-read it first, but it's an excellent series if she's not too sensitive. It's inspired a lot of discussion on various important subjects between us.

Cool, I'll look into it when Fall is near. We decided to go with First Start French for now. Thanks, guys!

I used WWE4 for my fifth grader this year. The longer dictations just seemed downright cruel in some cases! Then I watched the videos shown above, and realized that it's not expected that you should be able to give a 60-75 word dictation in only three readings. I started letting her read the passage along with me, pointing out the punctuation and the difficult spellings, before ever sitting down for the three read-throughs. It helped a lot. I also read the WWE teacher book (which I hadn't read because I bought it without knowing that it was uneccesary), and it said that dictations that you pick yourself should be 25-30 words, even at the end of the year. MUCH shorter than even the average dictation in the Student Book. That took a lot of the pressure off. For the really long ones, I had to first figure out if she was really having trouble because of the dictation length/complexity, or if she was just tired and unfocused. Sometimes just waiting til later helped. If the dictation was really the problem and nothing else was helping, I would let her split it into two more managable chucks. I rarely had to do anything more than that. There were one or two that were just not working, usually because of extremely unfamiliar, old-fashioned language, and I had to give sentence-by-sentence. The preamble to the constitution comes to mind. For ONE dictation, which was basically an extremely long list of things separated by commas (I believe it was a passage from A (The?) Little Princess), I did just give up. I gave her the book and told her to copy it down, looking at the book as few times as she thought she could manage!